Central Park Plaza is Foster Financial Co.'s sixth acquisition in the last two years.

Real estate developer Foster Financial Co. has acquired Central Park Plaza in Southfield with plans to renovate the 130,000-square-foot office building and market it as an alternative to constricting space in Detroit.

The Grosse Pointe-based developer purchased the six-story building from Detroit-based Sterling Group for $5.1 million in a deal brokered by Michael Valant of Newmark Knight Frank, a New York-based real estate firm with an office in Southfield. The deal closed Sept. 15.

"As Detroit starts to get more and more expensive, there are a lot of companies that won't be able to come downtown," said Bradley Foster, owner of Foster Financial. "We're trying to offer lower cost options for business."

Foster said he plans renovations to the tune of "several hundreds of thousands of dollars," with the goal of making the space turn-key and upper scale.

Space in the building will lease for $16 per square foot plus the cost of electric, he said.

The building has a vacancy of 65 percent. Its major tenant is Heartland Home Healthcare, along with several law firms.

Foster said his company is courting a "major marketing firm" that would take up a whole floor and there have also been discussions about developing an apartment building behind the office.

Central Park Plaza is the developer's sixth acquisition in the last two years, Foster said, and it is actively pursuing "major acquisitions" in downtown Detroit.